Illinois, Chicago sue DHS for "unlawful" tactics
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U.S. Border Patrol agents in Chicago last October. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images
Illinois and the city of Chicago sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday for what they call "unlawful and dangerous tactics."
Why it matters: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed the lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois one week after ICE shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis.
- Raoul points to that shooting, as well as a fatal shooting in a Chicago suburb last year, as examples of ICE and the CBP's overreach.
Between the lines: The suit also claims that the Trump administration's "occupation" of Illinois and Chicago is aimed at getting leaders to abandon local policies, presumably the state and city's laws that restrict local police from helping federal immigration enforcement.
- The complaint says the administration is in violation of the Tenth Amendment, which states that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
What they're saying: "Border Patrol agents and ICE officers have acted as occupiers rather than officers of the law," Raoul said in a statement.
- "They randomly, and often violently, question residents. Without warrants or probable cause, they brutally detain citizens and non-citizens alike. They use tear gas and other chemical weapons against bystanders, injuring dozens, including children, the elderly and local police officers. I filed this lawsuit to stand up for the safety of the people of Illinois and the sovereignty of our state."
The other side: "This reads like a far-left manifesto, not a serious lawsuit. The Trump Administration is enforcing federal law and arresting criminal illegal aliens in cities across the country," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Axios in a statement.
- "Chicago's lawsuit uses aggressive rhetoric meant to smear law enforcement officers and incite violence against them. Democrat politicians must stop siding with criminal illegal aliens over American law enforcement."
State of play: Since DHS launched "Operation Midway Blitz" last September, Chicago and other parts of the state have been forced into an environment of chaos and fear, according to the complaint, with students missing school, parents missing work, businesses shutting down and social service providers scaling back.
Zoom in: Journalists, clergy and protesters sued the Trump administration last October for what they called a "pattern of extreme brutality." A judge sided with the plaintiffs and ruled that federal officers were restricted from using physical force, arresting, threatening or dispersing anyone.
- Clergy members also sued DHS, accusing its agents of blocking them from providing pastoral care to detainees at a processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
- That lawsuit is still working its way through the courts.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from the White House.